Tailcat
Network streaming tool in Developer tools
Open-source netcat-style tool that streams over Tailscale's WireGuard data plane without root or kernel routes. Critics note it still relies on Tailscale code, so vendor lock-in remains.
Open-source netcat-style tool that streams over Tailscale's WireGuard data plane without root or kernel routes. Critics note it still relies on Tailscale code, so vendor lock-in remains.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Open source, no proprietary vendor parts
“True appriciated of open source this, combine the tailscale open source client core with this”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” “That is not forced to use any vendor-specific systems to function.”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” “It's just open source code, not a hosted service.”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” - Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane”
Replaces stunnel-style WireGuard streaming
“this also adds a CLI tool + library to do streams over WireGuard w/o installing kernel routings, requiring root, etc.”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” “Looks like a Wireguard stunnel replacement, which is very useful!”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” Easy setup with README examples
“There's an example in the README how to do exactly that”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” “super sick, already setup a derp server”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Still tied to Tailscale vendor code
“Neat idea in its core but its still tailscale underneath”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” “installing vendor-specific dependency forks/clones means that there is an additional vendor lock-in”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane”
What people said
13 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“or use Tailcat if you want”
“True appriciated of open source this, combine the tailscale open source client core with this”
“Which is a nice upgrade from the alternative”
“super sick, already setup a derp server”
“Neat idea in its core but its still tailscale underneath”
“installing vendor-specific dependency forks/clones means that there is an additional vendor lock-in”
“There's an example in the README how to do exactly that”
“Might be able to throw it away or redesign it with some inspiration from this!”
“Looks like a Wireguard stunnel replacement, which is very useful!”
“this also adds a CLI tool + library to do streams over WireGuard w/o installing kernel routings, requiring root, etc.”
“That is not forced to use any vendor-specific systems to function.”
“It's just open source code, not a hosted service.”
“i like that it removes tailscale proprietary”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.